National Post (National Edition)
Offering new angles on exorcism
One of the many thoughtful surprises in Fox’s underappreciated series version of The Exorcist came early in the story, when a jaded, veteran demon-chaser, Father Marcus Keane (Ben Daniels), meets Mother Bernadette (Deanna Dunagan), a cloistered nun whose exorcism technique is altogether modern and, in a more sublime sense, feminine.
Instead of trying to cast the demon out, Mother Bernadette and her sisters offer a warm embrace and the power of forgiveness. When the moment is right — once the demon inside a human is exhausted by restraint, prayer and holy water — the sisters flip the script and welcome the evil presence back to God and eternal bliss.
This version of The Exorcist, created by Jeremy Slater, has a lot more on its mind than simply rehashing one more movie or TV show from the past.
“It’s been a terrifying challenge,” Slater said recently. “I was adamant that our show cannot be an attack on the Catholic Church, that we can’t sit here and take easy potshots at something that’s important to people’s faith. We have to also present the church as it is, addressing some of the ugly little secrets, but also showing it as a powerful force for good in the world.”
That means including old demons and references to pedophiles; it also means showing soup kitchens and bold, problem-solving nuns.
“Mother Bernadette came from a sense that if the show is lucky enough to run for more seasons, it would get exhausting to see the same rite of exorcism over and over,” Slater said. So he and his writing staff tried to envision exorcism from other perspectives and even other faiths.
It’s impossible to write about what’s good about The Exorcist without revealing some of its shockers. So here’s your spoiler alert.
As its story grew more absorbing, The Exorcist revealed that teen Casey Rance, is possessed by Pazuzu, a.k.a. “Captain Howdy,” the same demon who worked his way into young Regan MacNeil in the original film. The Exorcist personifies Pazuzu as a salesman (Robert Emmet Lunney), in a singed business suit, a being that only Casey can see.
Soon enough, Casey’s mother, Angela (Geena Davis), recognizes him and confesses her darkest secret: She is Regan MacNeil, four decades later.
It’s a little bit hokey and a whole lot of fun.
“That was sort of the blessing of having a small audience in those first few weeks,” Slater said. “With something like Westworld, those fans guessed every damn twist before it happened and were all over (the Internet) with it . ... We didn’t have thousands of people writing about our show every week.”